#eilia stafford

[forgottenarias]

stafford family swords

... and since we NEVER go down a rabbit hole in comments... everything we went on about re: the stafford family swords

forgotteneithne @giadesstrin OH WAIT NOW WHERES THE STAFFORD FAMILY SWORD?!?!

giadesstrin @forgotteneithne you know stupid roderick seized that treasure 😭😭😭😭 and/or if they gif it he’s desperate to grab it

giadesstrin *hid

giadesstrin Ooooh or maybe Siobhan has it???? And it might be proof she is who she ~says she is? 👀

giadesstrin Like…they snuck it out w her?

giadesstrin @forgottenarias ooooh also what if Evenstar/Morningstar is a meteorite blade like king tut’s dagger, so it’s literally forged from a falling star!!!

forgottenarias @giadesstrin ooo I love that!! … could it be there’s both an evenstar & Morningstar and Roderick’s snatched one maybe not knowing it has a twin blade of some sort that Siobhan is running around with???? @lizzydobbs

giadesstrin @forgottenarias KATE!!! Your mind!!!! I looooove thattttt!!!! The sword of the dawning and the sword of the evening

giadesstrin The sword of the ruler and the sword of the heir maybe? It like matching king and queen swords?

giadesstrin @forgottenarias ok is this ~too much? Maybe there are (or were) three swords originally, since it’s the three stars, and we’d talking abt three brothers founding the house originally iirc? Anyway maybe one was lost asp but it has legends a la Excalibur that only a true ruler of astaira (which to astairans means anyone willing to put astaira first but roderick ofc assumes it means rightful king aka himself basicall)can draw it from the stone/tree and it lies still somewhere hidden or whatever tbc

forgottenarias @giadesstrin ahhh I love this!!! You know Roderick wants to find that legendary sword!!! Maybe whatever Siobhan has is the smallest blade— something that would’ve been easy for her to smuggle out (honestly Aria was such a wreck she would’ve never thought “oh let’s take protection/something to prove who we are!” lbr— she was never leaving that castle. Also we’ve established she has no idea how to use a sword haha) But Siobhan having that blade to prove who she is!! ❤️❤️

margueritedemarigny @forgottenarias not me saying 'tbc' and then never actually continuing klajsdfkjlsdf ok so i ~do think eilia would be like 'here take this' and hand them ~the most significant~ ancestral sword bc she had perfect faith they were getting out and she wasn't letting her father's sword fall into roderick's hands, so my thought is that siobhan maybe has the ~king's sword -- eilia knew ~she couldn't get away but she could at least save her sisters and that sword tbc

margueritedemarigny @forgottenarias tbh i feel like they're largely ~ceremonial swords re: their usage anymore bc i do think astaira was a largely peaceful place till roderick hahah (thanks bud) but yeah!! my thought was that the third one (which was maybe the og kingly sword?) is the one that according to legend is stuck in a tree/stone, and may or may not actually exist???? and meanwhile the staffords have held onto the other two swords laskdjflksdjf oh oops gotta run but i swear ill tbc

forgotteneithne @margueritedemarigny ahahah I get it! I legit earlier wrote 3/4 of an email and then I had emergency go buy a bunch of random show make up 😅 and came back 3 hours late like oh right… probably should’ve sent that 😂😂 But literally love ALL OF THIIIIIIS

giadesstrin @forgotteneithne oh man big moooood honestly 😂😂😂 Ok so I’m three cosmos in atp so I’m either incomprehensible or ascendant but my notion was basically that given the multi sword situation I feel like it’s be pr easy to present the leftover sword as if it were the kingly one so roderick probs ~thinks he has the most important one, but every astairan can take one lion at it and know it’s not the right stafford sword probs — there was smth more to this no lie but idr at present ngl dhkhfdgjjfg tbc

giadesstrin I somehow got thinking abt the likely very different coronations that roderick has had Vs Eilia’s and my mind melted 😂😂😂

forgotteneithne @giadesstrin Yaaaas girl get it (we chugged margaritas on our hour dinner so i get it hahaha) BUT YES I love this!! Secretly tricking Roderick-- which i assume he'll go mental about if/when he finds out-- but just a little thing all the Astarians know and kinda binds them together at his expense! also how overdone was roderick's coronation versus eilias? XD I love how judgey astarians are about how overwrought his ~aesthetic~ is

giadesstrin @forgottenarias right!! I do quite like the idea of Astairans collectively pulling the wool over his eyes! I do think the cat’ll probs be out of the bag when someone perhaps @forgottencassimir claps eyes on it and then roderick will be FURIOUS but I imagine Eilia and Aria always knew that’d happen eventually? I will def do a post abt that sometime bc i ofc got way carried away but it ft stuff like Eilia going barefoot to be crowned vs roderick pulling a Napoleon and snatching the crown away tbc

giadesstrin From the priest to crown himself etc — also omg ikr!!! They’re just like ‘gif he’s so tacky’ while he thinks he’s being magnificent and I love it 😂🙌

[forgotteneithne]

Reunited || Eilia + Eithne

Eithne realized she'd almost been ignoring the fact that she would have the chance to be reunited with Eilia the night of the Princess's name day celebration. She'd said to many people she was looking forward to seeing her again but the reality didn't sink in until she saw Eilia standing not as the ruler of the the country but instead off to the side with Roderick center stage.

There had been a bubble at Malconaire, she realized, that she'd been living in for the past two years. Even though their circumstances were less than ideal, Eithne realized she'd never really acknowledged everything that had happened. So when Eithne, leaning against the cold stone wall attempting to recover from a disastrous interaction with her step mother, found herself turning to see Eilia standing just a few feet away from her.

She knew there had to be guards with eyes on them. She knew she needed to think about her actions, think about who could be watching. She didn't though. She immediately hurried towards Eilia, stopping when the other woman noticed her.

"... Eilia..." Eithne's voice was barely above a whisper as she took a small step towards the former queen. And then quickly another and another before she reached the former queen, throwing her arms around her in an embrace.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." she whispered to her friend before pulling away to look at her. She wasn't exactly sure what she was sorry for-- there were so many things. She was sorry that Malconaire had abandoned the Queen after the Battle, thanks to her step family. She was sorry she hadn't managed to see Eilionora in two years. She was sorry she lately spent her happiest days laughing and smiling with the son of their conqueror and Eilia's captor.

Eithne could feel the tears threatening to fall and tried to will them away, forcing a smile on her face.

"I've missed you."

[forgotteneilionora]

OOC | Eilionora & Eithne

these two are besties!!!! and eilia loves eithne so so much <33333 since eithne is noble, perhaps they -- at least in some part -- grew up together? i can see where perhaps lady malconaire was a lady-in-waiting to eilia's mother, and/or perhaps eithne, herself, was a lady-in-waiting to eilia? or maybe none of that, maybe they just saw e/o when the staffords were in the country? maybe they didn't even meet until more recently? idk!! but regardless of how it all happened, eilia thinks eithne is amazing, and wants only good things for her! she def thinks she's one of the best ppl she knows and knowing her is a privilege and a gift <3

[forgottenalaric]

ooc | Alaric & Aria

Alaric's feelings towards the Stafford girls is .... complicated!

Tbh, it has also shifted in the years since the conquest. At first, I think he thought that Eilia was kinda stupid not to just marry his brother?? It's not everyday that Roderick extends such an offer (despite how many wives he has lmao) and she's lucky to still have her life!! Not to mention, things in Astaira will likely be better with Roderick in charge.

But the longer he's been in Astaira, he realizes just what a good queen she'd been to them and he started to question everything he thought about how capable she'd been as a queen/how good of a ruler his brother really is??? Plus, he's gotten to know them a little better and he sees just how much they care about Astaira and how, even know, their people are still top of mind!

As far as how Alaric acts around them ... I feel like he's always been polite, but definitely v formal, a little gruff, and there was def an irritation that he tried (and failed) to hide. However, he has definitely softened towards them in the recent months and I think that he's shown this a little more with Aria (since he's developed some romantic feelings towards Eilia that he doesn't know what to do with!!) And like, I feel like he's started to let her get away with some things that he wouldn't have before?? Like even if it is just having a longer walk out in the courtyard or whatever?

But he'd be weird about it like if she asked, he'd be like "no, you know my orders! and if you think I'm going to bend the rules for you, you're wrong!" *proceeds to let her stay outside longer anyway, but doesn't acknowledge this at all*

[forgottenroderick]

OOC | Varmonts & Staffords

ok so this is...smth absolutely no one ever asked for but im trya work out my thoughts. so in the comment i just wrote, arthur wanted to address aria and i realized i had no idea what her title would be in his eyes bc, of course, it'd be whatever his dad told him it was skldjfskldjfdsf roderick out here having a stranglehold on everything he touches aksjdfksf but anyway!!!!

so!!!!! in general, when roderick conquers a nation, he executes their royalty and declares that ~he is now king/lord/prince/ruler of that place (i feel like atp all his titles listed would put even daenerys targaryen to shame ;D) and overall emperor of everything within his vast dominion etc

BUT!! astaira is both the largest and most rebellious land he's conquered so far and so he's treading a bit more carefully than usual. fortunately for him, its ruled by a woman, so his idea is to marry her and thus rule both by conquest and by marriage (and in future potentially by blood should their children succeed him) in order to help keep the ppl happy. this would mean ~not stripping the royals of their titles.

HOWEVER, while he's cool w letting the marriage further consolidate his claim to role, he doesn't wish it to be seen as LEGITIMIZING it. he wants it clear he rules in his own right and, out of his big hearted ways to his ppl or whatever, he chose to take the former ruler to wife so that her line may continue etc etc etc.

SO!! im thinking that what his plan is, is to remove eilia's title as queen, making her simply a princess of a royal line, and then when they marry re-crown her queen as well as empress and the lady wife vers of all of his various titles. so yeah!!! i think his initial plan was that all the staffords maintain their rank as princesses.

HOWEVER!! there is a fly in the ointment and her name is siobhan!!!! there's a missing princess out there and, having still her full royal titles isn't smth he wants out there if HE can't control it

SO!! nd this is NUTS!! but i think he's officially launched an investigation into the legitimacy of their parents' union to last however long it takes to bring in siobhan either dead or alive laksjdfkjlsdfkjsjfdsf so for the moment their legitimacy is in question and, therefore, whether or not they have any royal rights and dignities, legally speaking

i imagine their marriage was indeed legal hahaha and i doubt there's anything besides trumped up evidence against it, but its smth to keep things at least a lil off-kilter while there's a rogue princess out there doubtless stirring up the ppl and while eilia is refusing his hand

once siobhan is found and eilia agrees to marry him, the courts will rule in favor of a legitimate marriage having taken place, and the trumped up evidence will be found to have been fabricated, with those who forged these lies and falsehoods duly punished. now, what will be complicated is if eilia agrees to marry him before siobhan is found!!!! i think in that case, he'd produce 'evidence' that she died of some evidence w/o his superior doctors there to save her or whatever, while secretly continuing to search but ANYWAY atm he's banking on the idea that his v experienced bounty hunters will produce her, one way or the other, any moment now!!!! lakjsdfkjdsf

should siobhan appear and he prove unable to seize her, the court will rule their illegimacy but it'll be ok in the end bc his true love (lol) for eilionora his bride will trump these scandalous findings and he will showcase his goodness by marrying her anyway and STILL crowning her despite her being baseborn lakjsdfkjldsf so there you have it. obv, if she doesn't marry him, she'll remain a blasted bastard etc

as to my initial question of what their titles are while the court is pending, that's sort of...up to the individual. arthur will, of course, go w 'my lady' bc if his dad is choosing to question their legitimacy, he's not gonna question ~that hahaha but yeah nothing's been decided one way or another so there's neither a correct nor an incorrect way to do it in that respect since its all up in the air. 'lady' would, i'm guessing, be their title if they were found to be bastards bc they are, of course, still of royal blood and therefore noble, since in history that's usually how it went -- when elizabeth i was declared a bastrad she was still known as 'the lady elizabeth' etc, but idk how this world handles things like that, lizzy? but yeah as a result i went w 'my lady' in the comment but can def change it!!!!

TL;DR: roderick is worried about siobhan's royal authority being out in the world, so to help counter that im thinking he's launching a public investigation going as to whether or not the stafford girls are illegitimate, and therefore have any right to royal dignities and powers at all slkajfklsjfjd he also has a plan to deal w the fallout of this once things, inevitably, go entirely his way, one way or another ;D

EDIT:

omggggggg im thinking about it and realizing that he might even -- while everyone's gathered for the celebration of his daughter's bday but after that's all kinda done with -- have some astairan-born court official (whose family will be immediately after released from prison after the charges against them are weirdly found to have just...vanished huh but def don't think abt that) run in and breathlessly announce:

'OMG WE JUST FOUND THESE TROUBLING DOCS THAT PROVE THE LATE SO-CALLED QUEEN WASNT THE LATE KING OF ASTAIRA'S LEGIT WIFE AT ALL BC THE KING WAS ALREADY MARRIED (to some woman who either was still alive then but is now convneintly v dead, or else just got a v mysterious landfall out of nowhere and can somehow now afford jewels and palaces she never could before which isn't at all suspicious and we def shouldn't question that), AND OBV THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN PULL OFF POLYGAMY IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR THE GOD-GIVEN GREAT EMPEROR'

and roderick will ofc be duly shocked and aPPaLLeD and proceed to harshly judge a man who (supposedly) took multiple brides ;D as he calls for a full formal investigation of the issue that'll drag on as long as he wants it to alksdfjkjsdf the announcement will b VERY dramatic lakjsdfakljdsj ;D

(in which case i'll go back and change arthur's mode of address to your highness bc she's not considered potentially illegitimate ~yet kajdfjklsdjf)

[forgottenamira]

OOC | Amira & Aria

ok so, like godfrey, i do think amira would like to see edmund marry a stafford! i think for amira, that'd ideally be eilia bc she's a queen in her own right so, even if roderick's still alive, that'd make edmund already a king (even if only jure uxoris) by the standards of the ppl, AND it'd keep roderick hmself from marrying eilia, which is smth amira really doesn't want lakjsflkjsdfj but i def think she feels aria would be a good runner up for her son!

roderick's gonna throw her plans a bit of a curveball w the question of bastardy, honestly, but idk that that'll entirely change her mind, esp bc godfrey's so adamant abt all the good this could do team edmund honestly hahaha and she knows he's got his fingers in the astairan locals pies so to speak w ciara etc hahaha so i do think she wants to extend the olive branch, but she also wants it clear she's not here to see eilia become yet another sister wife hahaha

so i do think she'd be careful in how she approaches aria, esp bc amira aint a trusting person, but i do think it's pr obv eilia doesn't wanna marry roderick and that astaira isn't too happy abt the conquest etc so i do think amira'd wanna set up a meeting to sort of be like 'how would you like to ally w house calainon, but not w roderick?' basically lkdsjfalksjdfjdf probs under the guise of tryna talk aria into why itd be a good idea for eilia to marry roderick, like amira did or whatever alkjsdflkjsdjfk

[forgottenciara]

ooc | Ciara & Eilionora

ciara on the dl thinks eilionora is pretty cool (women in power????! they don't have those where ciara's from ;D)

I do think that she did have a certain amount of respect for eilionora, before she even met her, just considering what she had managed to do (even though she lost to roderick in the end -- that doesn't mean much, especially at this point, many older and ~wiser~ men have done the same).

I also believe she would be a bit more sympathetic, in general, than perhaps her varmont cousins might be to eilia's situation? I feel like bartholomew has pretty much kept his kids back at the homestead in the ~fatherland~ (whatever that's called ha) and they didn't necessarily relocate/visit every new place that roderick has conquered. I feel like this is different because a) it is where their mom is from/godfrey's earldom is here/this will likely be ciara's new home, etc. etc. etc.

anyway, I feel like ciara is a little weirded out that they are all staying in the stafford's house basically and just acting like this is totally normal??? not to mention everything else that is going on w/ them like the disappearance of their sister and the conquering of their country!

ANYWAY, I do think that ciara would try to befriend eilionora and aria -- if only to show them some kindness (whether or not they bought that this was genuine idk) and then, later, ofc whatever relationship they may or may not have developed was further complicated by the fact that ciara is probably trying to gain her trust to later find out if she has any ties to this resistance or not ... until, she realizes that she actually really does like her as a person and really doesn't want to betray her trust like that???

I can also see where, one day, she might reveal to eilionora that she has ties to the resistance and possibly get a message to her. also if she ever hears ANY word about their missing sister, she would go straight to them w/ that (it doesn't matter which side she feels she's on that day haha)

[forgottenvalentina]

OOC | Valentina & Aria

ok so, like lizzy was saying, i def think valentina was tryna get cassimir and eilia together which alkjdsfkljdsf eilia def wasn't having it (tho she was polite abt it)! meanwhile, valentina was def tryna court the favor of all three sisters and constantly putting on big, elaborate spreads and parties for them at the malconaire estate (which probs further impoverished the malconaire household) to impress them and make them feel at home and like such a marriage would be a good idea!!!!!

now, tho, valentina's tune has v much changed and she's #teamvarmont all the way (wouldn't be surprised if she opened a postern gate and let them in or smth when she realized eilia/cassimir was never gonna happen alskdjflkjsdfkj), tryna make sonya into roderick's next wife and then get guin and cassimir together. now, she talks about how shamelessly eilia chased cassimir, but he, good soul that he is, wouldn't have a woman that he didn't love even if she was a queen -- which is all part of why he's the perfect match for guin despite her being a princess! (tbh i doubt roderick is super fond of this line bc ~he wants to marry eilia now ++ he'd never consent to cassimir/guin, but that's neither here nor there bc this tale isn't ~for him, its for guin alskfkljsdf)

anyway, this def all v much exposes her true face to aria ifit wasn't already obv to her hahaha but tbh i don't think that particularly worries valentina bc she sees her as powerless. however!! valentina, if none of the varmonts can be interested in any of her children, valentina ~does have a backup plan in which cassimir goes back to the original plans and marries one of the staffords while enacting a coup/revolution and re-taking astaira in their name, making him a king ~that way. in this case, valentina would def claim that she was just playing the long game and playing up any perceived rivalry in order to remove any suspicion and she ~would indeed be entirely #teamstafford atp bc ultimately she's just #teamvalentina and that means supporting whoever can get her the furthest alksdjfaalks jdfjkldsf so yeah!! that's valentina alkjsdflkjdsf sorry, aria dslkjfalksjdfk

[rp-comments]

Kate | The Long Forgotten Realm

LAST UPDATED: 05/12/24 @ 9:33AM CST

Aoife Malconaire

Cassimir

Edmund

Aoife

Amira

Percy

Cillian

Sebastian

Brigit

Cassandra

Eithne Malconaire

Rosie

Ronan

Arthur

Eilia

Sebastian

Brigit

Cassandra

Aria Stafford

Cassimir

Brigit

Saoirse

Ciara

Ronan

Alaric

Cillian

Percy

Sebastian

Cassandra

Marian Varmont

Saoirse

Ronan

Alaric

Cassandra

Amira

Arthur

Ciara

Sebastian

[forgottenarias]

ooc || stafford family history i guess?

@forgotteneilionora Kate this is so much rambling nonsense i hope it makes a small bit of sense lol

Stafford Parents Okay but I am LOVING the idea that their parents put a lot of importance in action-- I definitely think it makes a lot of sense for both sisters!!! I am imagining since their mother died so young were actively involved in their father's royal affairs as soon as they were old enough? (especially considering Eilia was the heir which would technically make aria the spare?? which aria DEFINITELY ignored at all cost-- she def would spiral any time she considered that possibility.) i was wondering if perhaps aria, when she was old enough too, took up the mantle of being a patron/etc to these different things/groups/etc around Astaira which had originally been her mother's! i feel like the court/friends/whatever had tons of stories about her mother (because Aria would've been like..2 years old when she died I think?) that she'd heard over the years and she was aspiring to be as good as her mother! i dunno where this would really come from (mostly their dad i guess?) but i think they were trying to push the idea that being a queen/ruling class is about caring for the country and its people and their happiness/safety reflects back on a successful monarchy ruler. (also now wondering if they considered themselves/the queen/king "gods chosen" in the same way roderick does-- it seems like maybe that's not how the old religion would really see them but that's neither here nor there really...)

also knowing that their dad died pretty early on and while they definitely have more memories of HIM that their mother I could see where the whole lot of them have this very idealized versions of both their parents in their mind that is almost impossible to live up to in some way? that might be part of the reason why she (and maybe eilia too?) has this very strange idea that she isn't doing enough to try and fix the situation they're all in thanks to roderick!!

and because this is sort of a stream of consciousness word vomit rambling thing i'm ALSO wondering if even though they had fairly good familial relationships, maybe there was not really a forum to express emotions/concerns/etc within the family unit which is why now Aria/Eilia are in this weird sort of 'i don't want to be a burden/i am a burden/i don't want them to feel like a burden!' cycle because they aren't really that great at expressing their emotions to each other?? the whole like "we have to be strong for each other/our country" and a kind of guilt trip "things could be WAY WORSE" sort of thing

Old Religion/Guardians/Etc so to then pivot to Aria's abilities... i think she has had the ability for as long as she can remember! my idea was She talked a lot about seeing things/creatures/etc as a kid and I image her family probably thought she was just a kid who had imaginary friends, etc… but then as she got older and the stories continued/she could better articulate exactly what she was seeing they were like “ohh okay, that’s not just imagination.” Knowing there’s sort of two paths to follow when one has the ability to see/sense the guardians— being okay with it or kind of going crazy— she was probably kept a bit more secluded for a time so that if she did go the crazy route, she wasn’t out in public raving like a loon. I DO think pretty quickly it was concluded she was not going to lose her mind BUT then her abilities set up another set of concerns— even though the idea of seers wasn’t necessarily treated as a crime in Astaira it still would open her up to being a target from foreign entities (#roderick) along with potentially being seen as promoting the “old religion” despite the fact Astaira had a more open view on people’s religions! so the decision was made that it needed to remain a secret amongst the family (which really wasn’t that hard honestly). also now thinking this all maybe happened not long before their father died so she was kinda struggling with coming to terms with this ability/what it meant while they're all in mourning and her older sister is now the queen! (which obviously meant aria saw her less and while i think aria always knew that was going to happen it was still a shock/hard thing for her to deal with and i think aria tried to step up and be that person for siobhan but never felt like she actually was any good at it!) buuut anyway I think she had to figure out a lot of this guardian business out for herself along with trying to keep it under wraps so again it’s a part of her life she MAYBE put some unnecessary pressure on??

(also on the same note going off all that awesome info regarding witches lizzy posted, i was also thinking that aria never had an powers manifest which could be potential drama in the future for everyone if something happened that WOULD make some power manifest-- especially depending on who that might happen in front of!)

anyway this is, like i said, semi insane sounding rambling about things and i'm always open to changing thoughts on ANY of this but yes... it is here XD

[forgottenarias]

50. Writer's preference: aria/eilia -- "Siobhan...Where can she be?"

"Siobhan, Siobhan... where can she be?"

"Aria!"

Aria spun around, wobbling slightly but grinning wildly when she saw Eilia rushing towards her.

"Sister!" Aria cried, throwing up her arms which caused her to splash wine from the bottle she happened to be clutching across the floor.

"Whoops!" she giggled as her sister reached her, grabbing Aria's arm and wrenching the wine bottle from her grasp.

"What are you doing? Where have you been?" Eilia demanded, holding onto Aria's arm as she weaved back and forth.

"Well..." Aria replied, attempting a very serious face. "After Roderick Varmont publically dragged our names and our dead parents' names through the muck for all the country to hear in celebration of his daughter's birthday, I decided that I would steal some of their wine and drown my sorrows somewhere else. I also made up a song, do you want to hear it? Siobhan, Siobhan, where can she--"

"Aria, stop!" Eilia shook her sister, trying to regain her attention. Aria stared at her, trying to focus. "You need to go lie down before anyone sees you."

"I'm glad she's not here," Aria whispered to Eilia. "I'm glad Siobhan got away... she's better off out there."

Aria had never admitted to Eiliathat she often thought that Siobhan might be better off without her. Aria had always been more prone to the quieter pursuits-- books, painting, embroidery. She'd learned to ride as a young girl after much protest. Neither she nor Siobhan had wanted to leave without Eilia, but it had been Aria that had tried to insist they stay-- mostly because she didn't want to leave Eilia on her own, but also because she was terrified to be without her.

Eilia was a proper elder sister-- she had always taken care of Aria and Siobhan, somehow, even as she ruled Astaira. Aria knew she never could have filled that role, especially out in the world on the run. Sure. she took great joy in doing her part for the people of Astaira, caring for them, bestowing what gifts should could upon them, but none of that would have been any help for Siobhan.

"She's better off without me," Aria babbled as Eilia tried to lead her down the hallway as she weaved and stumbled. "Better off not having to take care of her older sister."

"Enough!" Eilia exclaimed. She stopped the pair in the hall, turning to Aria with a face normally reserved for courtiers and advisors.

"This is not what breaks you. This is not what breaks us," Eilia told her sister forcefully. "He knows this will cut us deep but we know the truth. We know who we are. His lies will not be our ruin. Do you understand?"

Aria nodded. Eilia's face softened and she reached out, brushing a tear that Aria hadn't even realized was rolling down her cheek.

"They don't deserve our tears, little sister," Eilia assured her, wrapping her arm around Aria and guiding her back towards their rooms.

[forgottenarias]

stafford parents

i can't remember anymore if we have a thread going about this?

bu just because i came across it... i'm throwing out Dónal or Domhnall as options for their father's name. It means "ruler of the world' which we know the Astarians wouldn't have taken much stock in but imagine how annoyed Roderick would be if he found that out?

[forgottenarias]

aria & eilia: "hey im with you, all right? always."

"Go," Aria hissed, pushing Siobhan towards the servants stairs at the end of the hallway. "Go, Siobhan! Stay out of sight. Go through the walled garden-- you know where the wall is damaged. I'll come another way."

"Aria, no!" her younger sister reached out to grab at her hand but Aria was already rushing down the hallway away from her towards the soldiers bearing the Varmont arms. Her younger sister was too smart to not realize exactly what Aria meant to do.

"Its one of them!" a soldier shouted suddenly spotting her. Aria didn't dare look back to where she'd left her youngest sister, not wanting to give her away. Instead she turned the opposite direction and began to run.

For a moment she wondered if she might not be able to outrun them-- their armor made their movements slower while Aria could dart and change directions with much more easy. She also knew the palace, knew the hallways and maybe, just maybe, she could make it back to the stairwell and...

Aria felt her feet slip and she crashed to the stone floor hard, knocking the wind out of herself. She put her hands out in front of her and tried to push herself up, only to slip. She looked down.

Blood. It was blood that she'd slipped in. She scrambled wildly, trying to get up, trying to get away, but before she could right herself she felt two sets of arms grabbing her own.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, kicking wildly as the guards dragged her own the hallway. She knew she must look a frightful imagine, flailing like a wild animal, covered in the blood of some poor slain soul. She finally managed to making contacting, tripping one of her captors and causing him to fall.

"Stupid girl!" he snarled, raising his hand as if he meant to strike her. Aria braced for the impact.

"STOP!" a voice echoed down the hall. Aria tried to move her hand to brush her hair from her face to properly see who caused the guards to stop but was quickly restrained again

"This is one of them?" he asked, approaching slowly.

"Yes, sir," one of the soldiers answered quickly.

"Take her to her sister. Unharmed," he added forcefully. Aria heard the sounds of boot steps retreating as the pair of men resumed dragging her through the halls. She soon found herself outside a door which was already guarded by two men.

"The other one escaped us, for now," one of her captors announced as the door was unlocked and Aria was shoved roughly inside. The door slammed behind her.

"No!" she heard her sister cry. "Aria, no, no..."

Eilia was there immediately, helping Aria upright. She gasped, seeing her state.

"You're hurt! Oh gods..." Eilia quickly began searching for the source of the blood but Aria grabbed her hands.

"Its not mine," Aria managed to assure her. It was all Aria could do in that moment to not break down entirely. Eilia wrapped her arms around Aria, holding her tightly.

"Siobhan?" Eilia whispered. Aria's throat tightened, trying to stop from crying.

"I ran so that she might escape," Aria whispered back. Eilia pulled back, pushing Aria's hair out of her face, eyes sad. "There wasn't anything else to be done..."

"I know... I know..." Eilia pulled her sister into a hug again. A moment later, the sound of the lock being open startled the pair. Both sisters jumped to their feet, Eilia pushing Aria behind her.

A single guard entered the room. He paused, glancing at the pair, before speaking.

"Your kingdom has fallen to His Grace The Imperial Emperor, Roderick Varmont," the guard announced. Eilia said nothing. The guard cleared his throat and continued.

"His Imperial Highness is waiting in the throne room to accept your formal surrender."

"Astaria will never surren--" Aria snarled at the guard but Eilia grabbed her arm. It wasn't often that Eilia changed from her sister to her ruler, but that moment was one of those rare occurrences. Aria fell silent, shrinking back behind Eilia once again.

"Please permit us a few minutes to ready ourselves," Eilia said briskly to the guard. He nodded once and left, the door locking behind him.

"You can't... Eilia you can't," Aria pleaded, grabbing her sister's hands. Her sister was shaking her head.

"There's no other option. We've lost."

"Please. Eilia... he'll..." Aria couldn't say the rest of the sentence, but she knew Eilia understood. They had heard what had happened to the rulers of other countries Varmont had defeated.

"We must be strong... for Astaria," Eilia smoothed Aria's hair back out of her face. She stepped back, pulling off her robe and placing it over her sister's shoulders to help hide her current state.

"I'm with you, alright? Always," Aria said, her voice shaking as the guard threw the door open once again. "Always," Aria repeated, taking her sisters' hand as the pair walked towards an unknown fate.

[forgottenarias]

Counter Attack || Eilia + Aria

Aria shoved open the door to the small private sitting room she and her sister shared, flinging her embroidery hoop to the floor before collapsing into a chair across from her sister.

"It took three days but he finally noticed I was embroidering the letter 'A' on these handkerchiefs," Aria announced gesturing to the discarded embroidery on the floor. The 'he' in which she referred to was Arthur Varmont.

"To which I replied that of course I was embroidering the letter A, what other letter would he expect considering my name?" Aria continued. She reached down to the floor and picked up her embroidery, smoothing the rumpled fabric before handing it to her sister for her to examine.

"So tomorrow once he has gone out to galavant about, I'll have one of the maids leave it in his chambers to find. Then in a few days if I see him about with it, I'll go to him about speaking with Roderick regarding my visit to the orphanage..." Aria sat up a bit straighter, dropping her voice slightly. She knew no one was around but she often felt as if the walls might be listening to the conversations she and her sister had in their private rooms.

"I thought I might say I wanted to take a donation to the orphanage on behalf of the Varmont family in celebration of Guinevere's birthday. They could hardly turn down some positive publicity for their family, one would think..."

Aria sank back into her chair, turning to look out the window. The sun was low-- the maids would be in soon to light the fires. When the household was still, she would leave another bit of embroidery-- a sigal of the old gods-- on the hearth, making sure to rise early enough to check that it was gone before the servants arrived for their morning tasks. She knew the risks of doing such a thing, but there were far greater risks if she did not.

[forgotteneilionora]

a mock up to represent a potential coat of arms kate and i had discussed for eilia/house stafford/astaira's coat of arms, pending lizzy's approval.

i did a lil debate abt to make the stars or or argent, but i went w argent bc the varmonts had or in theirs and i felt like it's a cool contrast. anyway, kate does this look at all how you were picturing? as with the others, this isn't how i pictured it but its the closest i could get w the site. i also feel like, the mullet being the mark of the third son (or, for astaira, child), this could also call into play some interesting potential 'foreshadowing' re: their ancestors etc and now the three daughters as we'd discussed etc

Argent (white or silver): Peace and sincerity

Azure (Blue): Truth and loyalty

Estoile/Mullet/Star: Celestial goodness; nobility; divine quality from above; mark of third son (find more in-verse symbolism here)

[forgottenarias]

Character Analysis

THE BASICS: 

Character’s name: Aria Stafford

Role in story:  Princess Witch  

Age: 24

MBTI: INFJ-T

Enneagram: Type 2

Zodiac: Scorpio (said the quiz--- I believe she's more a Virgo)

INTERNAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

What is his/her greatest fear?  She'd tell you it's some sort of cataclysmic event caused by the abandonment of the Guardians which is definitely up there but deep down its losing her family-- and she's half way there with Siobhan being missing currently. She's also spends a lot of time worrying about 'what's next' when it comes to Roderick-- she figures its only a matter of time before he gets fed up with Eilia's refusing him.

Inner motivation: Freedom. Returning to normalcy. Bringing back the Guardians for the good of humanity.

Kryptonite: Losing any more of her family or even the idea of it. Not doing enough for her loved ones/country (whatever "enough" means)

What is his/her misbelief about the world? That she'd eve be able to survive on her own (mostly without Eilia)

Lesson he/she needs to learn: To be gentle with herself, that sometimes the best course of action is no action, to be more open with her emotions (especially with her sister!)

What is the best thing in his/her life? On days when she's feeling particularly low she'd say "nothing" right now! But definitely Eilia and her example of how to be a strong leader even in this terrible situation.

What is the worst thing in his/her life?  Roderick Varmont probably? and everything and almost everyone he's brought into her life.

What does he/she most often look down on people for?  Selfishness. Lack of action. Lack of compassion. Cruelty

What makes his/her heart feel alive?  Acts of service for her friends/family/country. She was always the most happy spending time with all the kids at the orphanage-- not because of the gratitude from them for anything she did but because she felt like she was really making their lives better.

What makes him/her feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?  100000% her sister <3 Aria has always and will forever idolize her older sister and Eilia's presence is keeping her from going completely out of her mind.

Top three things he/she values most in life?  Her family. Her country/the people of Astaira. The Guardians.

EXTERNAL: NOT NECESSARY, BUT GOOD TO KNOW AND SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

What’s his/her favorite book, movie, and band? I have no real logical reason WHY I think this but I would say Aria's three favorite musical artists would be (in no particular order) Rosemary Clooney, Jacques Brel, and Noah Kahan. Def a "my music preferences change with my mood" sort of person. Bookwise, a huge fan of biographies/autobiographies-- figuring out how people think, how they feel about things and just trying to further understand people. I think she'd also secretly read pop culture romances because they're cute and would make her smile-- but she'd never admit it! She'd definitely love anything directed by Wes Anderson.

Is there an object he/she can’t bear to part with and why?  I had this thought that maybe all three of the sisters have some sort of matching item (ring, necklace, something) that their parents had made for them when they were born/youngsters so that's an important item because it connects them all <3. (I keep going back to some sort of star imagery for the Staffords so maybe that it? or maybe that's on their family heraldry... I dunno) Also a hair comb of her mother's aria always loved (but never wears since she hates putting her hair up haha!)

Describe a typical outfit for him/her from top to bottom. Almost always in a fairly simple dress-- usually blues, greens, or greys-- but despite being simple in design she had befriended some artisans who would do some -tasteful- embellishments with embroidery/needlework/etc not necessarily for vanity sake but because she like supporting artisans in the city! most often slippers because she wasn't the most active/outdoorsy person but she's traded those in lately for slightly more practical boots since she's taking up walking all over the grounds to kill time! also almost never wears her hair up (it drove her mother nuts when she was young because it was ALWAYS all over the place!) and often ties part of it back with ribbons, etc. Usually has a ribbon tied around her wrist for that exact reason!

What names or nicknames has he/she been called throughout their life?  Mostly just Aria? Probably "Ari" sometimes by her family when she was younger since that's a cute diminutive.

What is his/her method of manipulation? Giving Arthur Varmont two minutes of her time? She never considered herself very manipulative until the Varmonts showed up so she's definitely catering her methods based on who she's got her sights set on at the moment. It has become through flattery of some sort-- whether it's trying to play nice with Roderick or begrudgingly going to Arthur for 'help' with something or pretending she actually cares about something that interests Cassandra, etc.

Describe his/her daily routine.  Well there isn't much to life when you're under house arrest!! Aria did realize she needed some sort of a routine so she wakes up early and walking... she's probably clocked miles wandering the grounds. Its both good because she isn't just sitting inside, but it does give her tons of time to think which isn't great because she gets in her own head sometimes. Usually in the afternoons she reads, works on needlepoint, and spends time with Eilia. (I had this idea that Roderick forces all of them to dine together in the evenings, haha, so if thats a thing that's the low point of her day.) Pre-Varmonts, Aria would keep herself fairly busy. She had been actively trying to develop an artistic neighborhood in the city as well as her philanthropic pursuits. She spent a good deal of time at the orphanage and had been planning to start soliciting the Astairian nobility for donations to expand the facilities before the war began.

Their go-to cure for a bad day?  I think it used to be "running away" from the castle and spending time at the Malconaire Estate with Aoife... which isn't really possible now #thanksroderick so I think she doesn't really have a great way to raise her spirits? Honestly probably hiding out somewhere with Eilia and the pair pretending things aren't as bad as they actually are really helps.

CHARACTER GOALS:

How is your character dissatisfied with their life?  Well, she’a a prisoner in her own home until her sister agrees to marry the man that literally turned their world upside down so that’s all not great… other than that just her lack of ability to do anything of substance is really messing with her. She’s also definitely in her own head about a lot of different things-- she's gotten herself convinced she'd a burden on Eilia in this difficult situation but ALSO would have been a burden on Siobhan had they managed to escape together. Also the whole knowing the guardians aren't there and being able to do anything to bring them back... its a lot weighing on her mentally.

What does your character believe will bring them true happiness or contentment?  Getting rid of the Varmonts (or at the very least Roderick.) Being able to practice their religion/traditions so the Guardians can return. Eilia being Queen again. Finding Siobhan.

What definitive step could they take to turn their dream into a reality?  Poisoning Roderick? Jkjkjk but also not really... beyond escaping her confinement and somehow spearheading a coup against Roderick, there isn't much she can definitively do at this moment.

How has their fear kept them from taking this action already?  She knows rebelling against Roderick would definitely end if death for her if it was unsuccessful as well as anyone working with her-- and potentially anyone she cares about. As much as she wants to help her family and her country-- she's not particularly scared of dying (so she tells herself!) but she is not willing to put anyone else at risk.

How does your protagonist feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear of the thing they are afraid of? Honestly this is constantly on her mind-- she's trying to win over the Varmont's in an attempt to have some more freedom and hoping something will come from that-- whether its finding a resistance movement or trying to get some of the Astairian cultural events reinstated-- though the more she learns about Roderick's extreme actions re: witches, she might backtrack a bit on that, again, she's petrified of her actions causing harm to others.